The Doors and People Memory Test: Validation of norms and some new correction formulae

Objectives. To validate the normative data on the Doors and People Memory Test (D&P) using a new sample of normal participants, and to investigate the relationship between D&P performance and general intellectual level. Design. 281 normal participants (16-75 years), subdivided into 10-year age bands, were tested on the D&P and the National Adult Reading Test (NART). Method. Each participant's raw scores on the D&P were converted into scaled scores, and scaled memory 'indices' were derived using the test manual. Stepwise multi-linear regression was used to predict the indices using age and NART error score as predictor variables. For each participant the discrepancy between the predicted and obtained values of each index was converted into a z score using the SD of the discrepancies from the whole sample. Results. The distributions of raw and scaled scores on the D&P were similar to those of the original standardization sample. The Visual-Verbal and Recall-Recognition Discrepancy indices had smaller dispersions in the present sample than in the original sample. None of the indices was significantly related to age. The Total Memory, Combined Visual Memory, Combined Verbal Memory, and Overall Forgetting indices were significantly correlated with NART error score. Conclusions. The present data constitute a cross-validation of the normative data presented in the D&P test manual. Two points of dissimilarity are noted: (i) cutting scores derived for the Visual-Verbal and Recall-Recognition indices based on the test manual norms may be unduly conservative; and (ii) the relationship between some of the DBP indices and NART error score may lead to systematic errors in interpreting the scaled scores derived from the manual. 'Correction formulae' based on the regression equations derived from the present sample are provided.